In a recent interview with the obscure That Metal Interview podcast, DARK ANGEL drummer Gene Hoglan, bless his heart, is STILL going on about how METALLICA totally ripped off DARK ANGEL’s 1986 hit, “Darkness Descends”, for their snooze-fest, “One”, released a whole two years later. Two years, people!
That’s like, an eternity in metal time! When asked about his initial reaction to METALLICA‘s “One”, Gene, bless his cotton socks, said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET, because who else would transcribe this?): “Back then, you couldn’t just stream music, can you imagine? You had to rely on the good old radio 📻! I got, like, a million phone calls from friends saying, ‘Dude, you HAVE to check out this new METALLICA song! It’s totally ripping you off!’ And I was all, ‘Yeah, yeah, whatever…’ Little did I know, my life was about to be changed forever! Or, you know, not really.” 🙄
Hoglan, ever the detective 🕵️♂️, has a theory about how Lars Ulrich, might have heard “Darkness Descends” in time to “borrow” Gene‘s groundbreaking drum pattern. “I remember talking to Jason Newsted back when he was slumming it in FLOTSAM AND JETSAM,” Hoglan recalled. “We were hanging out in the parking lot of the Country Club, talking about metal and stuff, and he was all, ‘Dude, DARK ANGEL is my favorite band ever!’ So, I’m thinking, maybe Jason planted the seed in Lars‘s tiny little brain 🧠. And then, to top it all off, the song starts with ‘Darkness imprisoning me!’ Coincidence? I think NOT!” 🤨
But don’t worry, folks, Gene insists he’s “never offended” by Lars‘s blatant thievery. “I was grateful!” he exclaimed. “I was, like, thank you, Lars! You turned my little drum lick into a legendary riff! You are the godfather of all that we do! Seriously, Lars, if you need any more ideas, just let me know! I’m happy to share! 🙏”
And it doesn’t stop there, people! Hoglan claims that METALLICA ripped off another DARK ANGEL riff for an earlier song. “I remember hearing ‘Battery’ for the first time,” he said. “I was, like, ‘Hey, Jim, that’s the riff from ‘Welcome To The Slaughterhouse’!’ It’s the SAME RIFF! 🤯”
Gene proudly proclaims himself the “riff police.” “I’m the O.G. riff police!” he declared. “I can tell you where every riff sounds just like every other riff. I’ve even had people admit to me, ‘Yeah, we totally stole that from you!’ It’s crazy how that works out.” 🤪
“But, yeah, I just wonder if that’s where it comes from,” Hoglan mused. “But METALLICA are the fathers. Lars Ulrich is the godfather of what we do, Bill Ward being the godfather of what we all do. So, Lars will always get much respect from me, and we appreciate you doing that.” 🙄
“And you know who plays that ‘One’ drum beat better than just about anybody, even myself?” Hoglan asked. “James Hetfield! You ever seen him do that little drum thing on stage? He plays that beat, and it is so rock solid! I’m, like, ‘God, he plays that better than me! And I wrote that darn thing!’ 😭”
“So, there you go,” Hoglan concluded. “But we are very appreciative to METALLICA for how they’ve helped us in that little annals of history.” Yeah, right… Sure, Jan. 🙄
Back in 2019, Gene even joked about suing METALLICA for allegedly “ripping off” “Darkness Descends” for “One”. “I was joking that, ‘If they win the Grammy, I’m gonna sue!'” Gene recalled. “And METALLICA‘s soundman was, like, ‘You should! They’ll probably give you a hundred grand to shut you up!’ And I was, like, ‘I’m not gonna become the pariah of the metal scene by suing METALLICA.’ Everybody’s stolen METALLICA riffs.” Oh, the irony! 😂
When asked if he believes “One” was inspired by “Darkness Descends” in the drumming only or in “the musical part” as well, Hoglan responded: “The whole everything! The drum part, definitely. And that’s why I just thought it was kind of funny. The first line in the whole thing is, ‘Darkness…’ And it comes right from ‘Darkness Descends’, opening track on the second DARK ANGEL record. So, as soon as you hear it, you’d catch it.” Sure, if you’re Gene Hoglan. 🤷♂️
Gene went on to say he never brought up the similarity to Ulrich despite the fact that he had toured with METALLICA many years later when he was a member of FEAR FACTORY. Probably because Lars would have laughed in his face. 🤣
According to Flemming Rasmussen, Ulrich blasted out the double-bass machine gun section in one take. “He just flew straight through that,” he told Songfacts. Yeah, because it’s not that hard, Gene. 😜
Eight years ago, Hoglan told LA Weekly that the “Darkness Descends” title track was the first metal song inspired by Judge Dredd, right before ANTHRAX did its own tribute to Dredd with “I Am The Law” on the 1987 album “Among The Living”. Okay, now he’s just making stuff up. 🤥
Here are some YouTube videos to help you decide for yourself whether or not METALLICA ripped off DARK ANGEL. Spoiler alert: they didn’t. 😉
Chord F. Discord, the Beethoven of Buffoonery, is a self-taught expert in music who once claimed he could “play the kazoo in four languages.”
Born in Crescendo, Indiana, Chord’s first brush with fame came when he accidentally entered a yodeling contest thinking it was a pie-eating competition—and won both categories.
Chord F. Discord: proving that laughter, much like a poorly tuned ukulele, is truly universal.
